It feels great to be back blogging after what seems like a rather long yet productive break. I have been cluing myself in on what is to be expected from Module 2 and planning out how I wish to use my time as effectively as possible. Time management is often a difficult thing and I would like to ensure that with each task, I edge closer to clarifying my professional inquiry and producing a well thought out and well executed plan.
Looking through Reader 4 on Developing Lines of Professional Inquiry, various concepts caught my attention and created openings for further exploration. It is interesting to think of how inquiry-based learning and work-based learning (WBL) intertwine to form the basis upon which BAPP students can structure their professional inquiry. Actually having to use your professional practice, or workplace(s), as a stimulus for your inquiry is a new and intriguing concept for me. I like that you can make your inquiry quite personal by incorporating your own experiences and existing knowledge to unearth new evidence and trails of thought that can lead to potential adaptations within your place(s) of work. The fact that what you produce could have future benefit for both yourself and your colleagues is something that I feel is of great value.
Before I fully delve into what I have grasped from Reader 4, I would like to mention the recent reflective process that I have undergone whilst looking over my previous blogs from Module 1. In particular, I read through BAPP Task 2d: Inquiry as a way to refocus myself on what ideas had surfaced throughout Module 1 and how I want to develop such ideas as I work through Module 2. Key themes that once again got my brain ticking were:
CHANGE
AGENCY
PASSION
DEVELOPMENT...
...from which I developed the question; 'How can I further change my own life and potentially change others' lives in the future, doing something that I am passionate about which will exercise my agency and fuel my development?'
This self-made question continues to challenge and motivate me towards my end goal of producing a well-rounded and accurately researched professional inquiry.
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Referring back to Reader 4, I found familiarity in Judi Marshall's process of thinking, described as 'self-reflective inquiry'. For me this is a good place to start as it instantly draws upon the skills that I adapted throughout Module 1 in terms of reflection. Marshall feels that by using self reflection throughout an inquiry process, development can flourish and the questions asked remain open allowing room for growth.
When approaching an inquiry, or any large-scale research project, it can be difficult to not get too caught up in one area of research. If there is something that I am wildly interested in and passionate about, I will direct so much energy towards that one thing that sometimes I forget to think outside of the box and allow other areas of research to contribute to my inquiry process. This is where self-reflection will be such an essential tool for me to use throughout the development of my professional inquiry as I can use it to monitor my progress and check that I am keeping all relevant areas of inquiry open to exploration.
Task 4a asks that we "develop a set of questions that are relevant to your practice" (Akinleye, 2015, p 12). After doing so I will then take my selected questions to another practitioner; a friend and fellow Middlesex student who studies Dance. I feel that her responses will be relevant and useful to my own work as she has an in-depth knowledge of dance and will be able to offer a fresh perspective on questions that I already have an established opinion on.
My first question relates to 'self-reflective inquiry' as discussed previously in this blog. I wish to ask: Does self-reflection help you to think outside the box when approaching a research task?
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My second question relates to WBL, an absolutely essential aspect of the BAPP degree. Throughout this course we are constantly encouraged to use our workplace(s) as an environment for learning and approaching issues which, if solved, could lead to innovation and change within an organisation or on an even wider scale. It is, as I previously mentioned, inspiring to think that a professional inquiry can create recognition for existing issues and assist in the settling of these issues for the benefit of both yourself and other employees.
Each organisation or professional individual (freelancer) has a unique way of working. All of us have ways and means by which we work most effectively in our given environment and there is no saying which methods of WBL are right or wrong. Founder of the Society for Organisational Learning (SoL), Peter Senge, produced his own, and widely-adopted, methods of how to successfully operate a learning organisation. These methods are documented in his book The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organisation (1990) which highlights; among many other fascinating theories; five basic disciplines which are said to innovate learning organisations. These 'component technologies' are as follows:
1. Systems Thinking
2. Personal Mastery
3. Mental Models
4. Building Shared Vision
5. Team Learning
After reading an overview of each of these components, I found myself particularly interested in 'Personal Mastery'. This draws upon the concept that we, as individuals, are incredibly valuable to an organisation if we can continually self-reflect, clarify and deepen our ideas and develop an innate sense of proficiency which allows us to focus our energies on personal visions and how we can make them a reality. It is about being truthful to yourself and to your own subconscious. It urges us to not be afraid of exploring our own minds and the ideas that they produce.
People with a high level of personal mastery live in a continual learning mode. They never 'arrive'. Sometimes, language, such as the term 'personal mastery' creates a misleading sense of definiteness, of black and white. But personal mastery is not something you possess. It is a process. It is a lifelong discipline. People with a high level of personal mastery are acutely aware of their ignorance, their incompetence, their growth areas. And they are deeply self-confident. Paradoxical? Only for those who do not see the 'journey is the reward'.
(Senge, 1990, p 142)
This is such a brilliant quote and one which I find useful in so many ways. I feel that 'personal mastery' ties in beautifully with self-reflection and once again, it is a process which you initiate within yourself to allow knowledge and maturity to grow. I agree that you never simply 'arrive' anywhere. You are continually in a state of learning no matter how much you think you already know. 'Personal mastery' is certainly essential in self-development; something that we should strive to uphold in all professional environments. If we can be confident in ourselves, we are more likely to successfully vocalise our ideas in our place(s) of work and see that they are valued in enhancing our learning organisation(s).
I feel that such a concept will be useful in the development of my professional inquiry as it will teach me to place more trust in myself and my own aptitude when it comes to crafting my piece of work. I will perhaps not second guess myself as much and instead will allow visions to flourish and enjoy the process while it is happening. I do of course have an end goal, but I do not simply want to 'arrive' there, I want to learn and grow along the way.
On this topic, my second question is as follows: How useful do you think 'personal mastery' is when it comes to producing a professional inquiry?
http://study.com/cimages/multimages/16/Personal_Mastery_Diagram.png
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Continuing on the theme of WBL, I also explored the work of Chris Argyris and Donald Schön who collaboratively developed the 'single-loop' and 'double-loop' learning models by which organisations can operate. Due to the wealth of information on these two innovative individuals, I have chosen to hone in on double-loop learning models as I feel that these are the most relevant to the direction in which I wish to take my professional inquiry.
When errors are detected in an organisation, 'double-loop' learning questions the governing variables upon which an organisation is established rather than looking internally at operationalizing certain goals, values, plan or rules. In other words, "double-loop learning occurs when error is detected and corrected in ways that involve the modification of an organisation's underlying norms, policies and objectives" (Argyris and Schön, 1978).
http://www.selfleadership.com/blog/leadership/reflecting-and-leaning-2009-to-2010/
For me, the 'double-loop' model is extremely interesting as it challenges organisations to test their fundamental policies and make rapid decisions in ever-changing and complex contexts. Thinking ahead to my professional inquiry, I am still intent on researching how artistes within all areas of the arts sector are legally represented and what sort of legal aid is available to them. Looking outwards from this, the concept of the 'double-loop' model has spurred me on to think about how arts organisations, (be it dance companies, charity arts organisations, government agencies, trade unions etc.), support legal aid within the arts sector and how readily available it is to those involved in such organisations. If a fundamental shift was needed in order to provide better and more widely accessible legal aid for artistes then the 'double-loop' model would be a sound foundation upon which to perform such alterations.
I like how the 'double-loop' learning model covers such a wide spectrum of questions to be asked of organisations and also the individuals working within organisations. If we could all have a clear structure to follow when facing errors within at work, it would be much easier to understand and subsequently solve these errors. Working through questions such as the ones listed below can be of huge assistance when in the midst of problem solving:
What are you trying to achieve?
What is standing in your way to stop you from achieving it?
How can you overcome what is stopping you?
Who else can you get on board to help you to overcome what is stopping you?
What key actions can you take to relinquish the problem?
What will the eventual outcome be?
Working through something like this could first all be extremely useful in figuring out the context of your professional inquiry. Additional to this, these questions are exercising the 'double-loop' model in that you are attempting to get to the route of the problem, are considering all areas and are prepared to creatively transform a situation in order to solve the problem.
This leads me onto my third question: How useful do you think the 'double-loop' learning method is when approaching problem solving? How can this be applied on a wider scale to overcoming errors in an organisation?
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Workplace knowledge; what we learn at work "does not always fit neatly into given categories, which is why it is often described as transdisciplinary" (Akinleye, 2015, p 9). This idea of transdisciplinary learning is an intriguing one as it is true that, unlike studying a specific subject at college or university, a workplace raises many avenues for exploration and learning.
As a professional I am required to combine various areas of knowledge and skill to my working life in order to hone into my main area of interest; dance. If I wish to approach the dance sector from a legal perspective; as is my intention; I will have to be extremely open-minded and prepared to switch between more than one discipline. As raised by Gibbons (1994), I will need to use "a range of theoretical perspectives and practical methodologies to solve problems", thus allowing a diverse range of knowledge to help me in producing innovative ideas to tackle issues. The more I can immerse myself in all areas of knowledge relating to legal aid in dance, the more receptive and resourceful I will become.
The fourth question for my chosen practitioner: Do you think that a transdisciplinary approach to learning is important?
Food for thought for my chosen practitioner: If you were, for example, creating a piece of choreography, would you instinctively open your ideas up to a much wider context to allow you to explore other areas surrounding your chosen theme? Would you welcome knowledge that crosses the boundaries of dance?
Although some competencies might contribute to performance, surely there are other attributes, tangible and intangible, controllable and uncontrollable, that also cause effectiveness
(Raelin, 2008, p 44).
The fifth question for my chosen practitioner: Would you rather be a competent worker or a capable learner, and why?
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To conclude my first blog for Module 2, I would like to refocus on the subject for my professional inquiry. By looking at dance from a legal perspective, I will be researching two subjects that I am very passionate about; law and dance. I feel certain that raising awareness for the necessity of legal aid within the dance sphere will be a worthwhile and beneficial venture. From this point, I will be concentrating on gathering research from reliable sources, finding contacts within my professional network to assist me in my research, and thinking about the outcome of my research and how it could be of benefit to dance as an art form and for the many individuals who practice it.
The final question for my chosen practitioner: As a dancer, do you feel that having access to legal aid would be beneficial?
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A fantastic and newly attained resource for me to gain knowledge from is the recently formed One Dance UK. My role in this organisation is as a Dance Ambassador, a position through which I will have the opportunity to learn so many new skills and promote dance throughout the UK. The organisation has been created through the merger of Dance UK, Youth Dance England, Association of Dance of the African Diaspora (ADAD) and National Dance Teachers Association (NDTA). This new national dance industry body represents dancers and the art form itself in all areas of our society. It champions the excellence of dance education and lobbies tirelessly for the national support of dance. One Dance UK constantly tackles issues surrounding dance in the UK and works to change attitudes towards the art form by encouraging a national movement for the importance of dance in our society.
This is a brilliantly insightful resource for me to use as I can directly contact individuals from One Dance UK who have an excellent knowledge of the dance sector from so many diverse viewpoints. I can discuss with them how they feel about the current availability of legal aid for dancers and whether developments in this area would be of significant benefit.
Please check out the following links:
http://www.onedanceuk.org/
http://www.onedanceuk.org/programme/dance-ambassadors/
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Bibliography
Akinleye, Adesola and BAPP Arts Team (2015) Reader 4 Developing Lines of Professional Inquiry, BAPP Arts, Institute of Work-Based Learning, Middlesex University
Gibbons, Michael, Limoges, Camille, Nowotny, Helga, Schwartzmen, Simon, Scott, Peter, and Trow, Martin (1994) The New Produxtion of Knowledge, The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies, London: Sage Publications
Grundy, Lily (2015) BAPP Task 4a: Inquiry, BAPP blog sourced from http://lilygrundy95.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/bapp-task-2d-inquiry.html (accessed 24.02.16)
Marshall, Judi (2001) Self-Reflective Inquiry Practices Handbook of Action Research Participative Inquiry and Practice Reason, Chapter 44, Peter and Bradbury, Hilary (eds.), London: Sage Publications
Raelin, Joseph A, (2008) Bridging Knowledge and Action in the Workplace Work-Based Learning, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Smith, Mark K. (2001) Peter Senge and the learning organisation, the encyclopaedia of informal education, sourced from http://infed.org/mobi/peter-senge-and-the-learning-organization/ (accessed 24.02.16)
Bryant, Andrew (2009) Reflecting and Learning: 2009 to 2010, Self Leadership International, sourced from http://www.selfleadership.com/blog/leadership/reflecting-and-leaning-2009-to-2010/ (accessed 24.02.16)
Smith, Mark k. (2001, 2013) Chris Argyris: theoris of actions, double-loop learning and organisational learning, the encyclopaedia of informal education, sourced from http://infed.org/mobi/chris-argyris-theories-of-action-double-loop-learning-and-organizational-learning/ (accessed 24.02.16)
http://study.com/cimages/multimages/16/Personal_Mastery_Diagram.png (accessed 26.02.16)
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